The Hairstory of the 11th Doctor

More than any other Doctor, Matt Smith’s incarnation seems tied to his hair. Oh, sure, Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor was once described as “all teeth and curls,” but it was his scarf that defined that version of the Time Lord. But from the moment he was cast, Smith’s hair was the focal point.

It could be because the initial publicity photos (and the cover of Doctor Who Magazine) all depicted him with what appeared to be a hairstyle rejected by English New Wave band A Flock of Seagulls. I know that was my initial reaction. (And then, like everyone else, I opined, “He looks to young.” Live and learn.) Or, it could be the fact that Smith’s shock of floppy hair was incorporated into in the look of the 11th Doctor — and the way his mop top always seemed to inject itself into scenes in that inaugural season of stories.

But now that Matt has left the role, the very first thing he did was shave off all that hair — all of it — and take a role diametrically opposite to that of the Doctor (a murderer in Ryan Gosling’s How To Catch a Monster). These were both extremely smart moves.
Except… Smith isn’t really quite done with the role. He still has to play the Time Lord one last time (well, hopefully he will pop back in the future), in the 2013 Christmas special, and he absolutely cannot do that with a buzz-cut! We need the 11th Doctor’s floppy mop!

Xmas filming is still a couple of weeks off, so when show-runner Steven Moffat was asked about his lead actor’s hairdo, he told Entertainment Weekly:

“We’re sprinkling fertilizer on his head as we speak. I don’t know. If you care to take a look at ‘The Angels Take Manhattan,’ there are a couple of scenes that Karen Gillan came back to do in the graveyard after she’d had her radical haircut and she is wearing what seems like a strategically draped otter on her head…. However we effect it, the Doctor will turn up in his trademark coif. We can’t have Matt’s last stand in the TARDIS without his proper look.”

I guess that means we can look forward to Matt Smith wearing a wig — albeit one the production has spent a bit of money on!